I would recommend the New Merlot Dac from Playback design over lampi. The Merlot Dac is designed and coded by the very guy who made DSD in the first place for sony.
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Yes Total is very good and so are a few others. With Total DAC I find the build quality a little less pleasing. However in terms of SQ they are up their with the very best. |
Subscribed to this thread. Interested to see opinions on different DACs.
I have tried
MSB Analog and Platinum DACS,
DCS Rossini
Play back Design (Currently Own the Merlot)
Total DAC Dual D1
Lampi 7
Ordered a Aqua Formula
For DSD I still prefer my Playback Design.
MSB NO SOUL (Analog DAC was more musical then the higher Teir models)
DCS NO SOUL
Total DAC Excellent Tonality and natural sounding.
Playback Design, Natural Sounding feels like the music is more engaging.
Lampi 7 was just not for me. Too Coloured for my taste.
My System Already consist of Tube Pre-Amps and Power Amps so Lampi was sounding too warm for my taste.
Their are some hard-core Die hard fans for Lampi DACs.
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Audio Doctor,
Thank you for the info, after my experiences with other Super expensive Dacs, I am now trying too stick to Dacs which are under 15K. Simply because in the next 2-3 years we will have another breakthrough with DACs and set up a higher standards for others to follow.
After putting up my MSB for sale new lessons were learnt :-)
The Aqua at this present moment seems to fit the bill. I am very fond of my Playback Design Dac. I feel its the most underated product.
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The Playback Design to my opinion for DSD has not be toppled by the GG DAC in my listening room. I find the Playback design more transparent and quieter back grounds. The GG just seemed noisy. Both are very Musical DACs but for me the Merlot Dac just did everthing better and still remained natural sounding. For the GG Dac I assume the tubes are working hard to mask the Digital flaws within the unit.
Having a MP-1 and Atma Sphere OTL amps the system is very transparent already. When using the GG dac i could hear noise even after constantly changing over to different tubes.
I think the Playback Design Merlot Dac should be on your list to try out if you do find the time for it. After all Andreas Koch is hired by many top Audio companies to design their Digital products. Even EMM Labs use Andreas.
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At DSD I think Playback Designs are the Masters.
PCM They are on par with the very best R2R Dacs. I have heard better dacs at PCM then the merlot but these DACS are 3-5 times the price.
I’m comparing Analog MSB to Playback on PCM my self.
The Merlot was a little more transparent. You can hear the air from the singers mouth breathing during the music. however on the same file being played back on MSB you cant barely hear it you need to focus really well to capture it during playback. The MSB Platinum Dac was on par with transparency to the Merlot and at $40K Plus you would expect nothing less. But one Dac had more soul and density and space compared to the other.
The plucking of the strings are easily felt and heard on the Merlot, this just adds more to the dimensionality of the stage. The Analog would not portray this very well.
The PCM is more engaging on the Merlot, The MSB is a tad smoother/rounder similar to tubes and a little too laid back. It feels slower on the MSB then it does on the Merlot. The MSB Analog must be using a filter file to smoothen the sound but its mimicking a tube and not doing it very well.
Mind you the MSB Analog is twice the price to the Merlot.
Platinum is 4 times the price.
In terms of naturalism i think the Merlot is on par with very top R2R leagues.
It all comes to personal taste. I like a well balanced system. Not into Sugar Coated sound and sweetened milk. It has to sound real/natural, convincing and emotional.
Sure Dacs with Tubes and DHT sound emotionally involving but its using artificial sugar to your coffee.
I done with slow syrupy sound, But I like what tubes bring to the table. This is why my System consist of OTL and Field Coil Horn Speakers. The Transparency is unbelievable. Every nusance within the file will show up and presented in a smoother, easy to listen fatige free sound. The Dynamics is frightening when listening to hard core classical music :-) few times iv had the jump factor. Above all I want to cry and only some systems can acheve this.
You can put up the volume with the Merlot and the soundstage blooms larger it does not shout at you. Their is a sense of ease and relaxation. Its not being forced down your throat. I find it very emotional and addictive.
I cant help thinking how the system would sound if I Up sample everything at the server to DSD and send it straight to the Merlot DAC. I have yet to experiment on this during my free time. I cant do this on the Playback Design Syrah Server.
That is the basic way I can explain this. With out jumping into audiofool jargons.
I don’t understand this Audio Industry. I have read online reviews and fell into buyers remorse on certain products. I genuinely feel Playback Design Dacs are underrated.
Check this out: Copied from AK Design website:
The story of AKDesign
AKDesign was founded in 2003 by Andreas Koch and in 2013 Bert Gerlach joined the company after having worked together with Andreas since 2007.
The founder Andreas Koch, draws on more than 30 years of industry experience with renowned companies such as Studer, Dolby, Sony, Playback Designs and others. Bert Gerlach lead the engineering development at an optical flow measurement company and with his keen interest built remarkable audio products for home and professional use. As a team, Andreas and Bert complement each other perfectly and together they can tackle any aspect in electronic audio design and production.
References
AKDesign has now provided services to renowned audio companies such as Playback Designs, Nagra, Constellation Audio, DAISy, EMM Labs, Sony among others. It has a state-of-the-art SMT manufacturing line with a BGA rework station and provides manufacturing services to companies not only in the audio industry, but also in airospace and health industries with stringest quality requirements.
The key personnel possesses long standing experience from the beginning of the digital audio era and has provided many award winning designs. |
Audio Doctor,
Your absolutely right system synergy was something i used to take lightly not anymore experience shows what can work for others does not necessarily mean it will work for us. This is why an in home demo is highly suggested.
Out of Roon vs Jriver this debate has been going on for some time, which do you think sounds better to your ears? |
Hi Wisnon,
Thanks, your opinion is appreciated. I noticed you post on many forums about your experiences with the Lampi DACs. Im glad you enjoy it. This is what high end is all about everyone has different expectation and listening taste.
The Golden Gate I have in my possession for 6 weeks was with a dual engine. Iv complained about the noise but if you research over the net I'm not the only one mentioning this a few members from different forums concluded the same. My unit had a slight humming to the chassis.
the one thing which is apparent on most Lampi dac is the build quality. It feels very much like a DIY Job when compare the build quality to many other well built DACs in the same league. |
After my experience with MSB, Lampi, AMR, Chord and Playback Design i am no longer in the camp that believes the more you pay the more you get. No longer do I rely on Magazine Reviews or Forum Hype that one DAC destroyed another.
My playback designs runs circles around more higher priced DACs. This was a eye opener for me. I am yet to try out very cheap DACs to compare but I believe the FPGA and R2R dacs at the moment are reigning suprema in the digital domain.
Forum Hype is a dangerous marketing tool for the uninitiated with limited experience.
Every month a new DAC company will prop up and everyone will claim this is the next best thing. Enough with the crap... |
My house wiring is fine, My Wife designed the house and it was built 2 years back. We moved in 18 months ago. I have a Grounding Pole as thick as those used on lighting towers. This is Copper Rod pole runs down 30 Meters into ground and hits water. The house is well grounded.
I think my house was tested for grounding resistance and passed with flying colours.
I don't get noise from my Atma-Sphere Gears, nor do i get noise from my 2 other systems in the house. I run tubes everywhere except in my bedroom which is a SS system. |
I guess is personal taste i found the Lampi GG too coloured for my taste but this noise issue was one of annoyance I encountered. I can see why many people love it, It is an excellent DAC and value. Being the nature of the GG Dac warm sound it can easily mate with SS Gear but will require careful matching with other Tube Gears. Probably due to too much warmth being added into the system and the sound signature becoming unbalanced.
The GG dac does bring out the emotions of the music which is a big factor in my books. As too many high priced DAC these days sound Soulless, their is no life in their nothing that would stir the listeners emotions.
I like the sound slightly warm lets say 1 or 2 notches above Neutral but not into Super Syrupy warm sound. I can reach this state easily by tuning the pre-amp and power amp tubes. So SS DACs have no issues on my system.
OTL amps are known for their transparency and smoothness.
I consider my current system a reference, It consist of PAD Cables all Neptune Liquid Series. Atma Sphere Nirvana Amplifier and Atma Sphere MP-1 Pre-amp with all the upgrades. This combination together with the Classic Audio Loudspeaker T1.5 Field Coils. The sound is so transparent it shows you the character of all the upstream electronics. Even minor changes to the system will shift its energy.
Regards to Cable Lifting, I have also experienced this to work wanders on some cables only. However I found No difference in sound with Purist Audio Designs when lifted or left on the floor. This would possibly be due to their damping techniques.
That Memory player looks interesting but the price tag does not :-)
Whilst I don’t have issues in spending money in Audio. I am now starting to realise not all expensive audio is worth going for.
The biggest area I would spend most of my budget on are Pre-amps, Power Amps and Speakers.
DAC, Transports, Servers all come last with cables.
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@ksattic - That's exactly how Chord marketing team have you believe.
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The GG is a tube stage DAC.
The Merlot is SS
The Playback Design Merlot is a Chipless 1 BIT DSD dac. Andreas Koch uses a different method to in sampling rate before its passed over to the analog stages of the DAC. You might want to read into his paper work.
This DAC balances very well for its price tag against the BIG boys price tags DACs.
Many companies use FPGA and the same applies to playback design. Its the algorithm written for FPGA that matters more in the end. You can constantly update the Dacs Sounds by software instead of hardware.
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I love DSD, but i noticed its so much quieter that I have to push the volumes up higher compared to PCM |
Quested H108 Monitors, 94db sensitivity. 8ohms, Can be different by a 10 watt amplifier or a 300 watts. The speaker can outclass anything under 5K |
I applogise for my post above Guys I made a mistake was suppoed to post about the Quested Speakers over at another thread accidently posted it to this one. |
I wish you could get the Merlot Dac to test out. Wander if a local dealer could loan one out. This DAC seriously needs to be considered.
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I have had a few Ready made Server/network players. Decided on building my own Using HDplex Power Supply and Sotm Cards, Turned out to be better than my 10K Of the shelf network player. Sold that and now have 2 I use.
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Playback Design has the Syrah Server, its a optimised computer. This is something you should look into.
SOTM makes great gear and some of the other companies use their parts internally.
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This sort of sales talk should be reserved in private chat i think. Otherwise this thread will end up as a sales force for certain products. No Offense to Exogal or anyone else just a pleasant reminder.
This would give other Dealers/Manufactures excuses to do the same. |
I must stress that Distributors and Dealers need to refrain from over maketting products on this forum. |
Accurate Reproduction of Music has nothing to do with something that is emotioonally engaging, just saying. If you want super Acurate sound why not setup a Studio monitor instead since they are built for accuracy.
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Studio Monitors setup correctly will give you very accurate sound reproduction, I use Studio monitors in the office and bedroom. Does it give you that magical sound audiophiles tend to refer too. No....
Horns or High sensitive Single Wide band Speakers do this better paired with Tube Amps. We all have our own opinion iv lived with super expensive gear and large Solid state amps. Now I’m using High Sensitive Speakers and lower powered Amps. Listening to music is now shifted from the realms of just listening to feeling emotional waves from it. It is a different feeling altogether.
What is it that Tube Amps paired with high sensitive speakers do that large Solid State Amps driving inefficient speakers cant do? I have yet to figure that out.
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